A Journey with Knutsford and District Motor Club
It's me Mark Stone and in this episode of the Backseat Driver Podcast, I explore the Knutsford and District Motor Club’s recent initiative to make motorsport more accessible, offering newcomers a chance to experience competitive driving in a safe environment.
Through conversations with club members and participants, we highlight that motorsport doesn’t require a high-performance vehicle, everyday road cars can be part of the action too.
We discuss options like Targa rallies and auto tests, aiming to inspire listeners to get involved with their local motor clubs and discover the joy of motorsport, fostering a vibrant community for both veterans and newcomers.
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Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker A:Yes, it's me, Mike Stone, and this is the Backseat Driver podcast.
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Speaker A: -: Speaker A:And to reserve your own table and parking space, Motorsport UK decided to run a week of taster days, which is basically to encourage people into having a look at motorsport, seeing if they're interested, develop their existing interest and let them find out how you can become involved at whatever level.
Speaker A:From competing behind the wheel, navigating auto tests, little 12 car rallies, all sorts of things.
Speaker A:There's all levels of motorsport.
Speaker A:So in association with Knutsford and District Motor Club down here in Cheshire, just off the M6, very, very easy access, the day commenced and it's proven itself to be very popular.
Speaker A:So without further ado, let's have a chat with existing members of the Knutsford and a couple of new members of the Knutsford or one of whom is getting back into motorsport and one who is new to it all here with the knoxviden District Multi Club.
Speaker A:Ms. Uk Tasty day with Mike Lawson.
Speaker A:Mike, welcome to the backseat driver.
Speaker B:Great, great to see you and great that you've come and by the sound of it, on looks of it brought some good weather because we were worried that it was going to be chucking it down, but it's been good and so hopefully we've had a reasonable turnout and seen a lot of new faces now.
Speaker A:I mean, these tasty days are not unique to the Knutsford Club, but you're the nearest one to me.
Speaker A:But they happen all over it.
Speaker A:What is the purpose of them and how do you work with ms.uk on them?
Speaker B:Right, well, it's something they've been encouraged by ms.uk to broaden the appeal of motorsport and particularly grassroots motorsport.
Speaker B:People that have really had no inkling that they personally can get involved in motorsport.
Speaker B:Of some form.
Speaker B:Many people see Formula one or the World Rally Championship, but they think it's well beyond them.
Speaker B:But here we want to introduce to people that you can come along in everyday car and have a good day sport.
Speaker B:It's safe, it's not damaging and it's not too expensive.
Speaker B:And so today we're actually opening it up as to what people might expect.
Speaker B:It's sort of semi competitive.
Speaker B:It gives people an idea of what they might be able to do in their car and an opportunity just generally to meet the club and meet fellow minded people.
Speaker B:And we use the term taste a day because it is just that, it's a bit of a taste of what motor club motorsport can be about.
Speaker A:Now, the one thing is, and it's something I've been saying for years, if you have any interest in motorsport but don't know how to get involved, just go and google your nearest motor club, your nearest car club, because that's where, especially in the good old days, nearly every top rally driver, navigator or racing driver first encountered it all and cut their teeth.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's absolutely right.
Speaker B:I mean that is definitely the main starting point.
Speaker B:There's a great network of motor clubs throughout the uk.
Speaker B:They're well established, Some of them have been in existence for over 100 years.
Speaker B: s a relative newcomer at only: Speaker B:Every club invites each other's club to events, etc.
Speaker B:And you can look at, if you want to go further onto championships, etc.
Speaker B:So I agree with you 100% that good starting point.
Speaker B:Google your local motor club.
Speaker A:Now, besides being behind the wheel, I mentioned navigators for a lot of people and a lot of clubs.
Speaker A:They actually do things like tabletop rallying.
Speaker A:A tabletop navigation where you have the map out, you have the roamer out, you don't use electronic devices, they come later on when you're reasonably good at it.
Speaker A:But you can drive or navigate a rally by not actually going anywhere.
Speaker B:Yes, indeed.
Speaker B:In fact, during COVID we rang a whole series a championship of Google map rallies.
Speaker B:And so basically you navigated and spotted clues and then went to is it street map or streetwise and you actually found the clue on the, on the, on the screen.
Speaker B:So yes, there's lots of things that you can do that won't necessarily involve driving miles and miles in a.
Speaker B:And also A lot of people actually enjoy out marshalling, organizing.
Speaker B:There's many aspects to motorsport that may not be competing that people really enjoy.
Speaker A:And you mentioned Marshalls.
Speaker A:I mean, no events take place.
Speaker A:I mean, here we are today, we're in a big field, but the one thing that there are for the little events and demonstrations that are going on.
Speaker B:Marshalls, yes, a key part of motorsport and even if you go to, as I say, things like the British Grand Prix, volunteer marshals are the core of actually making events run.
Speaker B:And we're exactly the same here today.
Speaker B:But we try to make it an enjoyable, a fulfilling day for Marshalls and people take a lot of pleasure in it and get a lot of pleasure out of marshalling and organising.
Speaker A:Now, interestingly, it's just reminded me of the fact that since we're here in Cheshire, not far from Alton park, friend of mine, Mike Newton, started out for his passion marshalling at Alton Park.
Speaker A:Eventually he went on to win Le Mans LMP2 on three occasions.
Speaker A:But that's.
Speaker A:It's only when you're involved in motorsport in the clubs that you learn about it.
Speaker B:Yes, indeed.
Speaker B:And I think that's a very good point coming back to joining a motor club that once you join the motor club, it's amazing the network of contacts, friends, colleagues, etc.
Speaker B:That you make and can take you into all sorts of different directions.
Speaker B:In fact, I'm very good experience of somebody I went to university with and we've remained friends ever since.
Speaker B:He had no inkling of motorsport at that time.
Speaker B:I took him along to a simple 12 car rally and he's made his whole career in motorsport.
Speaker A:Mike, I hope the day goes to plan.
Speaker A:I hope you encourage more and more people into motorsport and.
Speaker A:Sounds terrible, but at grassroots level, because that is the grassroots motorsport that breeds the big names and the champions.
Speaker B:It does, it does.
Speaker B:I'm sure, you know, you'll find that, you know, for thousands that just do it, there will be one or two that will go on to do big things in motorsport and you have to start somewhere.
Speaker A:And like I said earlier on, you do need a bit of luck somewhere along the lines.
Speaker A:You need to be in the right place at the right time and the right person watching.
Speaker A:But I promise you, if you persevere, it'll happen.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, it's been great and it's super to see you here and supporting again, you supporting grassroot motorsport because we really appreciate it.
Speaker A:Knutsford, Mike Lawson, thanks very much for joining me on the Backseat Driver podcast.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:Here with Steve Henstock Marshall.
Speaker A:I know it's a Marshall because he's got a bright yellow, bright orange vest on and it says Marshall up front of it.
Speaker A:Motorsport Association.
Speaker A:Steve.
Speaker A:Welcome to the backseat driver.
Speaker C:How do you do?
Speaker C:Nice to meet you.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Marshalling.
Speaker A:As I've said to people, it's probably, don't take this wrong, the easiest way into being active within motorsport, it is.
Speaker C:The easiest way of getting in and there's a lot of people out there to support you and help train you.
Speaker C:So yeah, he's good like that.
Speaker A:Now you were saying training.
Speaker A:I know there's a.
Speaker A:Is it the British Motor Racing Marshals Association?
Speaker C:Well, msuk, which are the British governors of the sport, have a training program, a lot of the training programs online and also it's with the experience that you have on events, you get it signed off for what you've done on events and you climb the level of marshal.
Speaker C:So as a basic marshal, you go out there and to begin with we would get somebody to support you and be with you so you're not on your own and teach you what's happening.
Speaker C:And from then on we build you up and up and up.
Speaker C:We've got one of our members that I'm taking out in four weeks time on the Woodpecker to start his training as a stage commander.
Speaker C:So there's training all the way through and there's assistance all the way through.
Speaker A:And I know you'll learn things like flags because as a driver I used to have to know them things as well and half the time didn't and wonder what were going on and do whatever me fellow drivers were doing.
Speaker A:But there's the flags, there's the fire extinguishers, the first aid, there's all sorts of things, isn't there?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:One of the first things that you will get trained on is what we call first on scene and that's basically your fire extinguishers.
Speaker C:In rallying, etc, we don't have the full flags that they have on circuit events, but we have a red flag.
Speaker C:So if there's a reason for the stage to be stopped, you're told to put the red flag out, hold it in a certain way so the drivers know they've got to slow down and got to stop, basically.
Speaker A:And then yellows take care, isn't it?
Speaker A:Or there's a bit of a hazard ahead.
Speaker C:Yeah, we don't have yellows in this sport, we only have the reds.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:And it's only to stop the competitors.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:It's only track stuff that has the has the full set.
Speaker A:Has the full set of rainbow flare.
Speaker A:They're very pretty, really, aren't they?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And the marshals are good at waving them as well.
Speaker C:They're quite fancy the way they do it.
Speaker A:But if somebody wanted to get into it, if they join the Knutsford, it's like the first step, isn't it?
Speaker A:Because from there they will be guided.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:And one of the first steps is what we're doing today, which is a grass altar test that we have a series during the summer and come and marshall, unless it's dead easy.
Speaker C:From there we start to go into the forest events and things like that.
Speaker C:As I say, you are chaperoned to begin with so that we can teach you the basics until you're happy and you've done some training.
Speaker C:And then we'll build your training up and up and up, which is done through the msuk, but our chief Marshal helps guide people through that.
Speaker C:So, yes, it's upwards and onwards and at the end of the day, your training can go as far as being stage commander for events where you're in charge of the stage, it's everything on that stage you are in charge of.
Speaker C:So, yeah, it's good fun.
Speaker A:And the other thing is, if you get good at it, you can meet some of the top drivers, can't you?
Speaker C:Oh, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker C:And it's not only that.
Speaker C:If you're doing timing on these events, you're meeting the top navigators and drivers as they come into the time controls and most of them are quite social with us.
Speaker C:So that's even better.
Speaker C:That's even better.
Speaker A:And the other thing, marshalling, a lot of the time you get a goody bag, don't you?
Speaker C:Oh, you can get a goodie bag or the amount of mugs I've got home with different events on.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's not that.
Speaker C:The main thing with marshalling is the camaraderie, the way everybody works as a team and everybody looks after everybody.
Speaker C:It's just one big family and that's the nice thing about it.
Speaker A:Steve Enstock, thanks very much for joining me on the backseat driver.
Speaker C:No problem at all.
Speaker A:Graham Rayburn, who is.
Speaker A:You're representing the Tour of Cheshire Historic Road Rally and the Knutsford Tiger Rally.
Speaker A:Though you are a member of the Knutsford.
Speaker A:Graham, welcome to the backseat driver.
Speaker E:Thank you, Mark.
Speaker E:Yeah, it's been a great day.
Speaker E:Lots of people, lots of interest in club events and learning more about getting into rallying, either through Targas or looking at coming and doing our historic road rally.
Speaker E:And getting into the sport, which is really great to see.
Speaker A:Now a lot of people say to me, what exactly is a Targa rally?
Speaker A:So what is a Targa rally?
Speaker E:So I think a Targa rally can mean lots of different things.
Speaker E:But these days it's nothing to do with Targa timing of the old motor news road rallies of the 60s, when they were flat out road races.
Speaker E:They're all about driving tests on private land.
Speaker E:But whereas here today we're practicing auto tests, which are quite small and tight tests, they're a bit bigger, but they're not full on stage rallies.
Speaker E:So the one we run at the moment is in a forest, they're gravel tracks.
Speaker E:But unlike a stage rally, we put passage checks where you stop for a marshal signature to keep the speeds down.
Speaker E:We put a few cones out that you have to slalom through through to keep the speeds down.
Speaker E:Which means we're allowed to accept cars with less safety modification.
Speaker E:You don't have to spend the thousands on overalls, helmets, roll cages you need for stage rallying.
Speaker E:It's a much cheaper way into rallying and having a great day out.
Speaker A:So basically, what is a Targa rally car?
Speaker A:What do you need to do to it?
Speaker E:You can start with an absolutely basic one.
Speaker E:One of the things I really enjoyed about our Targa last year was one of the crews turned up in about a 20 year old 1.2 litre Volkswagen Polo.
Speaker E:Absolutely standard, no guards, all four tyres were Chinese, unheard of brands and different brands on each corner.
Speaker E:And they got round, they had a great time.
Speaker E:They were not going to win because the top cars were hot hatches, Subaru Imprezas with guards running forest tyres.
Speaker E:But they had a great time.
Speaker E:And as long as the cars are not excessively stage rally modified, they still need most their interior in.
Speaker E:There's a limit to how much you can modify them.
Speaker E:You can come and have a great day sport.
Speaker E:And there's a wide range of Targas across the country, so there's something local for virtually everyone.
Speaker A:So I'm going to say there's like a national championship, there's like a.
Speaker A:There's regional championships as well.
Speaker A:So you can do a few championships if you want, can't you?
Speaker E:Yeah, very much so.
Speaker E:Most regional associations run a regional championship and the BTRDA run a Gold Star championship, which the Knuts of Targa is a round of, which is aimed at the best events and the best competitors to have a national championship and also a Silver Star championship, which is great because all the events in the Silver Star are all on Smooth tarmac.
Speaker E:So those who don't want to modify their car or damage it on gravel can do targas that are in the Silver Star Championship, all at racetracks and other similar airfields.
Speaker E:Nice smooth venues.
Speaker A:And your other responsibility today is the historics.
Speaker A:You don't have to have an out and out historic rally car, do you, to do this?
Speaker E:No, again, like the targas, you can have a standard car and historics.
Speaker E:Now it's getting up into late 80s, early 90s.
Speaker E:We're starting to see the sort of Golf GTIs, Mr.2s, MX5s coming out, which is making it more accessible to more people.
Speaker E:Probably the big challenge for a lot of people is understanding what regularity is all about.
Speaker E:Maintaining precise average speeds as we drive along the correct route.
Speaker A:You can buy tables for all this as well, can't you?
Speaker A:That's why on certain stages that I've witnessed, you'll see a car parked before the finish line to get his times back.
Speaker E:Yeah, regularity is a real challenge for people.
Speaker E:And yeah, we can use tables, but trip meters, stopwatches, it's a real pleasure once you get your head around it and you can work it, but on the tough events where you're having to manage your own speed changes and work it all out and still read a map or read a road, but it's a lot going on for the navigator.
Speaker E:But one of my other things is running my Raleigh navigation training business and I have plenty of people who come and speak to me and either via webinar or face to face and we'll run some training and get people to understand how it works and get used to it and it's a great sport for me.
Speaker A:Navigating is a dark art.
Speaker A:I've tried it and we don't succeed of this.
Speaker A:How difficult is it to learn to navigate in what you call the good old fashioned proper way?
Speaker E:I think most of it's about a willingness to learn and get out there and try it and learning from mistakes.
Speaker E:Because one of the things I say when I'm teaching is I'm saying a lot of this because these are the mistakes I've made in the past or other people have made.
Speaker E:So it's trying to help you avoid making the mistakes we've made.
Speaker E:But I think a willingness to learn, you need some.
Speaker E:On regularities, mental arithmetic really helps.
Speaker E:The other week I trained a 14 year old who did an event with his granddad and yeah, the mental arithmetic of youth is quite impressive and they mastered that side of things quite quickly.
Speaker E:But it's A great sport.
Speaker E:It's worth the investment in learning.
Speaker E:And I've met so many people through this sport that I call friends and I've met great places, been to great places, seen so many great cars.
Speaker E:It's worth being involved for the camaraderie as well, much as anything.
Speaker A:And it reminds me of I was talking to a World Rally Championship navigator a couple of months ago.
Speaker A:I said, do you ever fancy moving into behind the wheel?
Speaker A:He said, no, cars are expensive.
Speaker A:A pack of Pel Pencils is still cheap.
Speaker E:Exactly, yeah, that, that, that, that's very much my feeling.
Speaker E:It's like, yeah, some of this stuff is very cheap for the navigator, I, I, I start complaining.
Speaker E:Maps are getting towards £10 each now and it's like, compared to buying bits for a car, it's, it's not a lot.
Speaker E:So it's a great way in.
Speaker A:Graham Rayburn, thanks very much indeed.
Speaker E:No problem, Mark.
Speaker E:Thank you.
Speaker A:Benny Smith, Ms. Uk, a man who actually admits to being part of Motorsport uk.
Speaker A:What brings you up here today, apart from a Mini?
Speaker D:I'm here promoting our Streetcar brand.
Speaker D:Streetcar is motorsport in your everyday road car, promoting affordability and accessibility into grassroots motorsport.
Speaker D:I'm here with the Mini, talking to Knutsford Motor Club about what the events they do and witnessing a great event that's being put on at the moment.
Speaker A:What is the Streetcar series?
Speaker D:So the Streetcar campaign is our marketing campaign and it's promoting how you can compete in grassroots motorsport in your everyday road car without needing any vehicle modifications.
Speaker D:And you can do it all on your basic RS Clubman license, which is a free licence that you can get from Motorsport uk.
Speaker D:And it's just promoting cheap, affordable motorsport.
Speaker A:So what are, shall we say, the series in the Streetcar?
Speaker D:So it's not necessarily a series, the Streetcar is.
Speaker D:We have a number of Streetcar clubs.
Speaker D:We have over 70 streetcar clubs across the UK who have signed up to our Streetcar charter and they promote affordable and accessible motorsport.
Speaker D:So you can get in contact with us on the Motorport UK Streetcar website through our get started form, which will put you in contact with your local Streetcar club and they'll talk to you about the events you can get involved with and how you can bring your everyday road car to begin competing.
Speaker A:So what are the events?
Speaker D:So there's four different categories per se within the Streetcar brand that you can compete in using your everyday road car.
Speaker D:So those are auto test, rally trials and cross country.
Speaker D:So rally comes across a number of different sub disciplines, including things like a touring assembly, which is just traveling a scenic route.
Speaker D:In your beloved car.
Speaker D:Or even a Targa rally, which is a bit more extreme compared to a touring assembly.
Speaker D:And then coming under the auto test branch, we've got an auto test, we've got grasswater testing, auto solo, which you can compete in from the age of 14, I believe, or it might have been moved to 13 by now.
Speaker D:I'll have to check that one.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You just need to ask the person who's going to arrange for teenagers to vote.
Speaker A:Not even they can work that one out.
Speaker A:But so.
Speaker A:And it's in many ways it's free is all this, isn't it?
Speaker A:Or else there'll only be the club membership and a little entry fee.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:So all you need is your club membership and then you need an RS Government licence, which is a free competition license.
Speaker D:You need your entry fee to these events and you need your everyday road car.
Speaker A:And the road car needs to be legal.
Speaker A:Legal tyres taxed and tested and insured legal tyres and fill it with petrol and that's it, away you go.
Speaker A:You don't need harnesses, cages, sump guards, anything like that?
Speaker D:No, no, just your everyday road car that you take to shopping on the weekend.
Speaker D:You can bring it over to events like this.
Speaker A:Benny Smith, Ms. Uk.
Speaker A:Thank you very much.
Speaker D:Thank you.
Speaker A:Here with Alan Smith, president of the Knutsford and District alum, welcome to the Backseat Driver.
Speaker F:Hello.
Speaker F:Yes.
Speaker A:You were just saying before we went on air, it was the first rally car you ever saw, quite a while ago, was a Quattro.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:You were hooked?
Speaker F:I was hooked, yes.
Speaker F:Strangely enough, I'd met this chap through my job and he was a member of Knutsford, which is why I'm a member of Knutsford, even though I live in Bolton.
Speaker F:So it's a good way off.
Speaker F:But the stage was running through Hague hall in Wigan and I'm living in Bolton, it was just around the corner.
Speaker F:So we went there and as I say, the first one that came round the corner was this Quattro and then various others and that was it.
Speaker F:I was hooked.
Speaker A:Do you compete or have you competed.
Speaker F:Only at club level?
Speaker F:I do a lot of organising, side of things, timekeeping, all the marshalling and so on.
Speaker F:And I prefer forest rallies to anything else, but to be honest, cars doing a competition.
Speaker F:I'll go and watch it.
Speaker A:And how long have you held this illustrious position within the club?
Speaker F:That's a good question.
Speaker A:Nobody else wants it?
Speaker F:Well, there's that as well.
Speaker F:Yeah.
Speaker F:I would guess about 10 years.
Speaker F:Prior to that, I was the club chairman.
Speaker F:Prior to that was the treasurer and so on.
Speaker A:But these days it's like they were saying, you've got over a hundred members, which is good going now for a little car club, isn't it?
Speaker F:It is good going.
Speaker F:We're very proud that we've had that sort of level for many, many years.
Speaker F:The biggest difficulty is a lot of them don't want to do anything other than compete and that's okay so long as we've got enough people competing, you know, who are.
Speaker F:Sorry.
Speaker F:Prepared to organise.
Speaker F:So we need a few more younger ones getting involved to take over from us older ones.
Speaker A:Any sign of UA members coming on board?
Speaker F:Yes, yeah, we've had quite a few.
Speaker F:And I mean, you do get the sons and daughters of members who've grown up with motorsport joining the club and then competing, and we've got a few of those as well, as you can perhaps see, looking around.
Speaker A:And do you intend hosting more days like this?
Speaker F:Well, this is the first one that we've done like this and it's part of Motorsport UK's Motorsport Week, so that's partly why we're doing it today.
Speaker F:I think it's almost certain that we'll be doing this again in a year's time and we'll keep going until we're not doing it very well.
Speaker F:People stop turning up.
Speaker F:But yeah, and we.
Speaker F:I don't know how many have been today, but I would estimate maybe we've had 50 non members here and it's good.
Speaker F:Yeah, we'll do it again, definitely.
Speaker A:Alan, thank you very much for joining me on the backseat driving.
Speaker A:No problem.
Speaker F:Thanks very much.
Speaker A:I'm here with Stuart.
Speaker G:Stuart Witham and Lisa.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And you're a bit.
Speaker A:You're not quite new to motorsport, are you, Stuart?
Speaker G:I'm not now.
Speaker G:I've done go kart racing, track racing, all sorts of grew up with it.
Speaker G:Rallying with my dad.
Speaker G:Rallying?
Speaker H:No, I've just stood and watched.
Speaker A:So how did you find out about today?
Speaker G:Drove past on my way to Macclesfield Hospital and seen the signs on the road.
Speaker G:That was about it.
Speaker G:That was it.
Speaker G:And then phone Lisa and said, do you fancy nipping down, see what it's all about?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And from there it's led to you joining Auntie?
Speaker G:Yeah, it has, yeah.
Speaker G:It's been something I wanted to do for a long while, actually, because I got out of motorsport, obviously, the cost of everything, and I thought, see if we can get back into it in some other way.
Speaker G:So joining a motor club and becoming a steward or marshal or anything, something that's interested me all my life.
Speaker G:Really.
Speaker A:And what aspects interest you?
Speaker H:Racing?
Speaker H:Definitely the racing, yeah.
Speaker A:Will we be taking up racing?
Speaker H:No, I'm willing to be a passenger anytime.
Speaker A:But will you be doing marshalling?
Speaker H:No, I'd just be coming with Stow.
Speaker A:So if he goes marshalling, you'll go marshalling?
Speaker H:Yeah, I'll stand and watch behind the lines.
Speaker H:Enjoy the cars.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:And you've joined, so I conclude a while since you've been a member of a motor club.
Speaker G:20 years.
Speaker G:22 years, yeah.
Speaker G:Yeah.
Speaker G:So a long time.
Speaker A:And Knottsford, like a lot run a whole host of things.
Speaker A:Evenings, tabletop rallying, things like that.
Speaker A:Will your interest develop into those as well?
Speaker G:Interest in any motorsport?
Speaker G:Anything at all.
Speaker G:Two wheels, four wheels, one wheel, whatever it is, anything with the motor.
Speaker A:And I know they put on some good evenings with some top rally drives and things like that.
Speaker A:So that'll be of interest.
Speaker G:Yeah, it certainly would.
Speaker G:Anything, like I say, anything.
Speaker G:Motorsport.
Speaker G:I grew up with it all my life.
Speaker G:It's in me blood.
Speaker A:And you'll follow suit?
Speaker H:Oh, definitely, yeah.
Speaker H:I'll be a shadow.
Speaker A:Thank you very much indeed.
Speaker G:Thank you very much.
Speaker A:Here with the notwith and district as it draws to a close with Louis Twohy and Oliver Hamilton, both new to the game.
Speaker A:How did you find out about this?
Speaker I:So it was actually Oliver, my mate.
Speaker I:So he found it on Facebook.
Speaker I:I didn't know things like this existed, to be honest, but.
Speaker I:So it's great to.
Speaker I:Great to see it.
Speaker J:Yeah.
Speaker I:It was on a Facebook.
Speaker I:Is it Facebook, Oliver?
Speaker I:Yeah, Facebook events page.
Speaker I:Yeah.
Speaker A:So you've gone from wondering what it's all about to finding out on Facebook to you've joined the club?
Speaker I:Yeah, well, we haven't joined yet, but I think we're highly likely to now because it's been a great day out so far.
Speaker A:So have you and you've enjoyed it then?
Speaker I:Oh, yeah, for sure, for sure.
Speaker I:We went in with no expectations and yeah, yeah, it's been great.
Speaker A:If you carry on, what is the branch of motorsport you would follow?
Speaker I:I'm not sure yet at the moment.
Speaker I:I haven't properly looked.
Speaker I:It'd probably be just a range of track days and maybe looking into a bit of drifting as well.
Speaker A:So what car have been using today?
Speaker I:BMW M240i.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And it's proof that you can use any car.
Speaker I:You can use any car.
Speaker I:Yeah.
Speaker I:It helps being rear wheel drive, but it makes it a bit more snappy, especially doing the slalom courses.
Speaker I:But yeah, definitely a learning curve and much better doing it.
Speaker I:Here than in a car park.
Speaker A:Oh, yes, That's a great thing about fields, especially when they're warm and dry.
Speaker A:You can slide quite nicely on them and it doesn't damage things.
Speaker A:So how have you found it, Oliver?
Speaker J:Yeah, I really enjoyed it as well.
Speaker J:It's just been a great day out, really, and everyone's really friendly, so.
Speaker J:Yeah, found it really good.
Speaker A:So is this your first go?
Speaker J:Definitely, yeah.
Speaker J:First time.
Speaker A:And what's your opinion of it?
Speaker J:Found that, you know, the whole experience to be, you know, everyone tells you what to do exactly and, you know, everyone's quite friendly and all the marshals are wanting you to do well.
Speaker J:So, yeah, it's really good.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:And unlike Louis, what do you intend pursuing or are you along the similar lines?
Speaker J:What was that?
Speaker J:Sorry?
Speaker A:What branch of motorsport would you like to pursue?
Speaker J:What branch?
Speaker J:I quite like maybe rallying that style or this autocross today, auto testing and things like that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So, I mean, could you be tempted at a later date to buy a competition car?
Speaker J:That is the dream.
Speaker J:That is the dream.
Speaker J:Yeah, definitely, Definitely, I could be tempted.
Speaker A:And if you did, what would it be?
Speaker J:Oh, I would say maybe Toyota Celica.
Speaker J:Do you like those?
Speaker J:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:And Louis, if you were buying a competition car, what would it be?
Speaker I:I'm not sure, probably another BMW, just because I like the way they drive.
Speaker I:Maybe a E46.
Speaker A:The other great thing about the Little 116 Series 1, they make fantastic competition cars and they're not very expensive to buy and the little four cylinder is very reliable.
Speaker A:You can do all sorts of abuse to it and it'll keep on going.
Speaker A:Anyway, gentlemen, Louis and Oliver, thanks very much for joining me here at Knutsford and District Car Clubs.
Speaker A:Tasty day.
Speaker A:Thank you very much.
Speaker A:Well, as the day draws to an end, the Knutsford and District Motor Club have signed up six new members.
Speaker A:Some of them came along just to have a look and their enthusiasm and their interest has been peaked and sparked.
Speaker A:So they already have some new members and they will be getting involved once again.
Speaker A:As I said, it's at a variety of levels.
Speaker A:It's all what you want to do.
Speaker A:How much do you want to spend?
Speaker A:As we learned, you don't have to have a fancy competition car.
Speaker A:You can use the car that you go to work in, go shopping in, do whatever, in a standard road car is more than capable and acceptable for certain disciplines of motorcycle motorsport.
Speaker A:If you want to know any more, if you Google the Knutsford and District Motor Club and go on to Facebook page, you will find out all the details of Motorsport UK once again.
Speaker A:Just go on all the usual sites and you will find out more about it.
Speaker A:But from the Notchford and District Motor Clubs Motorsport UK taste today, it's me.
Speaker A:Mark Stowe was always saying, be good tech, care to talk?
Speaker A:And if you find you are so interested, just go out and look.
Speaker A:It's all there to be found.
