REPORT FROM BROOKLANDS 2005

I've been going to Brooklands since 2002 and it has become a regular fixture in my Mini show calendar. It isn't the biggest show around but it is one of the best venues. Old planes, old racing cars and the immortal banking, surviving remnant of the terrifying race circuit of 1907. I could almost hear the bristling of moustaches. The show would also be the debut of my latest Mini, a J reg 1100 saloon.

Our small convoy went through London on a cloudy Sunday morning. Over Tower Bridge, (quite a spectacle, even with just four Mini's) on down the A3 and straight there. First impressions were that there were fewer Minis than last Year. Maybe the weather put some people off. There were hardly any traders either, a nuisance as I had a few bits I wanted to buy. Less amusing was the burger stall; Ł2.50 for a half cooked burger, having queued for twenty minutes is not remotely funny. Heaven knows what Jamie O1iver would have said about it. The museum restaurant was far better although it was very busy.

Like last year, there was a hillclimb on the old test hill, shame that I missed it. That other British Icon, Concorde was there too, having been delivered on the back of five lorries a few months before. The desire of Mini fans to drive on the banking is only matched by the gusto with which the marshals throw them off again, but this year they set out a few cones for an auto test. They also brought in an airport fire truck to drench the course in water, but at the crowds insistence the marshals got a damm good soaking as well. (Retribution for blocking off the banking maybe?)

Thanks to the guy from Mini Club Sussex (sorry, forgot your name!) who gave me a lively ride around the site in his Anderson Cub. And remember "its NOT a Moke!!" It was one of the more unusual Minis on show; the pictures record some of my other favourites. A good day out, although the run home was motorway monotony. I wish now that I had retraced my route through the Capital.

Report posted by our roving reporter.