Liverpool car show axed

A new classic car show set to take place later this month has been axed.

The Liverpool Motor Show was set to attract a wide variety of classics and modern sports cars to Croxteth Hall Park on 25 May, but organisers Aintree Circuit Club said the event had been cancelled due to operational difficulties.

The afternoon event was due to feature a mix of the latest supercars, an extensive display of classic cars and a showing of historic fire engines among its attractions, and would have raised funds for the Woodlands Hospice Charitable Trust.



The club is now continuing with efforts to organise its flagship event, the Ormskirk Motorfest, which takes place on 24 August.

Aintree Circuit Club wins national award

The team behind the Ormskirk MotorFest have won a national award for their contributions to motorsport.

Aintree Circuit Club, who organised the motorsport-themed event in the West Lancashire town on August 25, have been awarded a £500 prize by the Motorsport Industry Association, who praised their efforts to boost the event’s appeal by hosting a series of autotest events in the town.

Members of Aintree Circuit Club will be officially presented with their award at the Autosport International Show at the NEC in Birmingham next January.

Find out more about Aintree Circuit Club by visiting their website.

The sprint at Aintree reminded me why I miss the North

THE other day my sister posted on Facebook a list of things that I – as a Sandgrounder now ensconced in Peterborough – would be missing about T’North.

Among the suggestions it offered up was coffee served in mugs rather than cups, chatting to chirpy Scousers on Merseyrail trains rather than sitting in silence on the London Underground, and quaint pubs in the Lake District serving dark ales named after poets and fell walkers. What I miss most of all, though, are our car events.

That’s why I found myself in Aintree last weekend, a town well known for its connections with horsepower and racing – yep, part of the old Grand Prix circuit was being used for a sprint event. It’s a surprisingly simple formula for motoring fun; just bring your wheels of choice to the start line, put your foot down, hold on for dear life and hope your engine doesn’t pack in. Which, in the case of one Caterham which left a half-mile of blue smoke and a similarly sized oil slick down the final straight, it definitely didn’t!

The best bit, however, wasn’t watching everything from an E-Type to a Lotus Elise being nailed around the historic circuits corners and chicanes; it was being able to wander around the paddocks and get up close to this mouthwatering machinery and have a bit of a chinwag with the owners. There is something wonderfully egalitarian about the whole event, because it doesn’t matter whether you’ve brought half a million quid’s worth of classic racing machinery or a Renault 5 GT Turbo. At Aintree, all that matters is getting the fastest time in your class.

The one thing that summed that up more than anything else was clocking a lightly abused Renaultsport Clio 182 parked up next to an Aston Martin DB6. The two couldn’t be more different, but both of their owners were the epitome of loveliness and were there not to show off, but because they enjoyed putting their cars through their paces (and, without wanting to offend either, I bet their lap times weren’t dissimilar either).

So the smorgasbord of car shows across the region which always get into their stride at this time of year is something I can add to my list of things I miss about The North. 

Next week; gritty movies directed by Ken Loach, people who insist on lolly ices instead of ice lollies and Brian and Michael’s Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs. Only joking!

Disadvantaged youngsters to be given dream car rides at Aintree circuit

YOUNG petrolheads will be given the chance to speed around the historic Aintree race circuit in their favourite supercars as part of a charity event later this year.

Visitors to motoring events across the country might already be familiar with Sporting Bears - a group of car enthusiasts who give rides in their machines to raise money for a variety of children's charities - and this week they announced they will be taking 200 youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds for a spin at the former Grand Prix track on September 8.

Max Walker, the club's north west representative, said: "The event in September is all about giving kids who have had major issues to deal with, the chance to have a bit of fun and enjoy a unique experience.

"We are expecting around 200 kids on the day, many of whom are disabled or terminally ill, and they’ll have the opportunity to enjoy a ride on the Aintree race circuit in their choice of supercar."

The youngsters will be able to take to the track in some of the exotic cars familiar to visitors to some of the country's biggest motoring events, including Aston Martins, Ferraris, Jaguars, Morgans, TVRs, and Lotus sports cars among others, and get the rare chance to ride around the historic circuit.

The club also extended their thanks to Aintree Racecourse, who have helped to organise the event and to secure free use of the old motor racing circuit, which hosted the British Grand Prix on five occasions between 1955 and 1962.

Debbie Slee, conference and events manager at Aintree Racecourse said: "We host a number of charity events and balls here at Aintree but it’s great to do something really unique like this and give children the chance to enjoy a truly memorable experience."

Sporting Bears was formed in 1989 and has raised over £1m for children's charities across the UK.

Aintree motorsport club honoured in competition

AN AINTREE organisation which helps to keep the town's connections with motor racing alive has been praised in a national motorsport competition.

Aintree Circuit Club was named as one of six motorsport organisations which reached the finals of the MSA Club of the Year 2012 competition, after their work in organising motoring events in the north west, notably the Ormskirk MotorFest, was praised by the judges at the Motorsport Industry Association.

Mike Ashcroft, the club's chairman, said: "The club is delighted to receive this reward from the MIA and came very close to winning at our first attempt.

”Our motorsport display in Ormskirk alongside the themed market certainly attracted a lot of attention and promoted the sport and motoring in a very positive way as well as providing something different for visitors to the town centre."

The overall winner was the South of Scotland Car Club, but Aintree Circuit Club has been presented with £100 for reaching the finals of the contest.

The club, which has organised the Ormskirk MotorFest for the past two years, helps to promote Aintree's historic connections with motor racing, including the five occasions when the town's circuit hosted the British Grand Prix.

MIA spokesperson Helen Jones said: ”We received a number of entry forms from MSA clubs who took part, and due to the high standard of applications, this initially proved difficult for our judges to decide upon an overall winner.

“The judges were so impressed with the quality of the top six, that they feel all should be publicly commended.”

To find out more about the club, visit their website at www.aintree.org.uk or call 0151 525 9314.

Ormskirk MotorFest 2012 preparations move up a gear

PREPARATIONS are well under way for a motorsport spectacular later this month - and you're invited to join the action.

With less than three weeks to go before the Ormskirk MotorFest rolls into town in Sunday, August 26, the borough council and organisers Aintree Circuit Club are making final calls for volunteers to act as marshals and for owners of racing machines from the 1950s and 1960s to bring their vehicles to the event.

Councillor Martin Forshaw, the council's portfolio holder for planning and development, said: “We are all getting very excited about this year’s Ormskirk MotorFest. Make sure you put the event’s date in your diary and don’t miss a thoroughly enjoyable event.”

Last year's MotorFest helped Ormskirk enjoy its busiest ever trading day, with more than 10,000 visitors packing into the town centre, and this year the council, Aintree Circuit Club and main sponsors The Belfry Group are determined the event will be even bigger.

Among those who have already offered to help are members of residents' group New Way Tenants and Residents Association, who told Life On Cars that they would be volunteering as marshals to the positive impact the car and bike spectacular has on Ormskirk.

Group member Jane Thompson said: “The MotorFest is an excellent day out and I am in full support.

"This is an excellent event which puts Ormskirk on the map. Members of NWTRA are volunteering to help promote Ormskirk market town."

Organisers Aintree Circuit Club have also launched their new Friends of Ormskirk MotorFest scheme this week, which for a membership cost of £5 gets visitors a collector's badge, a specially-produced event brochure - and the chance to get a ride in one of the event's more exotic entrants around the streets of Ormskirk.

Signed up to appear are supercars and competition motorcycles, including one ridden by the late Joey Dunlop, a former world motorcycling champion. There will also be MG racing and rally cars, Metro 6R4, Group B rally cars and racing motorcycles, and the Santa Pod Raceway Top Fuel Dragster. Some of the vehicles will take part in parade laps around the town, and static displays will be on Moor Street, Aughton Street and Coronation Park.

If you have a competition car you'd like to enter, would like to volunteer as a marshal or would simply like more information about the event, visit the official Ormskirk MotorFest website at www.ormskirkmotorfest.com

Video: Aintree Race Circuit sprint day with Liverpool Motor Club

WITH the Grand National out of the way, scores of budding Jenson Buttons have taken over Aintree with a rather different sort of horsepower.


Today more than 140 keen motorsport fans took to the historic Aintree Race Circuit – which shares the same locations and grandstands as the legendary horse race – to take part in the first of a season of sprints and track days organised by Liverpool Motor Club.

Club chairman, John Harden, told Life On Cars: "We’re giving people value for money, and at a safe and historic venue that people like. We try not to be too officious, and try to help people whenever we can. People like it, which is why a lot of them keep coming back.

"We’ve got everything here, from roadgoing Minis right through to a Formula One-engined single seater racing car, and because it’s not fair to have something like a Mini competing against the big cars they’re all split into classes, so that all the drivers are competing against similar cars at similar speeds. "

 The Aintree circuit – which hosted a series of Grand Prix races in the 1950s and 1960s – saw an eclectic variety of vehicles putting in hot laps at the Grand National venue, including everything from a roadgoing Fiat Panda, Lotus and Caterham sports cars, and single-seater racing cars. The event’s organisers are keen to promote the events as a value for money way to enjoy motorsport at an historic venue associated with F1 greats including Jim Clark and Jack Brabham.

The club uses a shortened version of the original Grand Prix circuit for its sprint events every summer, with competitors driving past the jumps used in the Grand National in their bid to set as fast as time as possible in their respective classes. The venue is also used to hold track days, which allow keen petrolheads to put their cars through their paces in a safe environment. Liverpool Motor Club are holding a series of events at the circuit between now and September, including a track day on May 26, which are all open to spectators.

For more information about the club visit their website at www.liverpoolmotorclub.com. To watch the video simply click below...