Prodrive is a company plucking at many a motorsport enthusiast's heart strings. Classic rally heroes to Le Mans legends topped off with some stellar road cars and technological side-projects means there is something for every car nut to appreciate in Prodrive's work past and present. No wonder our first Sunday Service of 2017 was 'sold out' within 30 minutes and the factory was packed with eager PHers keen to see behind the scenes.
The day started with breakfast at the on-site cafe, Prodrive hosting some very informative presentations throughout the morning explaining what they do and how they do it. The factory doors were open, letting us gaze upon Subaru rally cars, Ford touring cars and an Aston Martin GT12 to name a few! Also on show were many amazing projects, present and previous, with staff on hand to answer the plethora of questions we had. Even their secret section was open to everyone, including the McLaren P1 spoiler mechanism, amongst other lots of secret stuff no one was allowed to photograph!
PHers and their cars were also on hand to make the day great of course! We had a fantastic turnout with, as usual, a huge variety of cars. From a sharknose 6 Series to a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, Porsche Speedster to Ariel Nomad, we definitely weren't short of eye (and ear) candy. A favourite among us on the organising team was the Ferrari F12 TdF, the very embodiment of Ferrari at its most exclusive and extreme.
Thanks to Prodrive and the fantastic staff for giving up their Sunday and hosting its first (of many, we hope) Sunday Service with us, it was thoroughly enjoyed. Also, a big thank you, as usual, to PHers for attending and bringing biscuits.
As such it's especially disappointing to be ending on a downer but a few cars leaving the event were driving in a manner not welcome on Sunday Services and in such a way as to put future events in jeopardy. Our hosts go to great lengths to ensure our events are fun, safe and professionally organised, so acting disrespectfully while leaving is absolutely not acceptable.
If that's how you get your kicks you won't be welcome at future Sunday Services, end of story. For all those sensible and well mannered PHers out there we'll look forward to seeing you at the next one at Silverstone.
Some PHers are already discussing it here