Hands up, who doesn't know about Motorsport at the Palace? Guilty as charged here, which is pretty embarrassing given the proximity of both PHHQ and my own home to Crystal Palace Park. So with an offer to compete this Bank Holiday, the 10th Motorsport at the Palace since its rejuvenation, there was no possibility of it being turned down. Especially with a race-proven classic Ford to drive...
While grids of cars have been prohibited at Crystal Palace since 1972 - see here for how it looked in its final year - sprinting has roots in the park going back to the turn of the millennium. The layout now used still features elements of the old track, including the Terrace Straight, though is only 740m in length. Still more than enough room to make a mistake, though.
The Motorsport at the Palace weekend ran across the Sunday and Monday of the Bank Holiday, with each day comprised of two morning practice runs and three competitive runs in the afternoon. Cars were split into categories based on engine size, age and performance, fastest car in the class won a prize. Simple.
It probably won't be a surprise to learn that a humble Ford Ka was not the most exciting thing in the MATP paddock (though the attention from those who did come over was very flattering - thank you). Around 85 cars competed, ranging from an Aston Martin DB6 to a Golf GTI Clubsport S; the paddock featured pre-war cars right up to an Audi RS6 Performance; single-seaters, touring cars, rally cars, vehicles untouched from their production form and others lovingly transformed into sprint specials. Short of stadium super trucks - now there's an idea - there was a car for every taste in the leafy corner of Crystal Palace.
The EnduroKa was in Category A, Class 7, which was for 'Roadgoing Series Production Cars' from 2000 to the present day. It'll come as little surprise to find the Ka was by far the least powerful car in that class, a Mini Cooper SD and 1.5-litre MX-5 about as close to competition as was going to be found. Still, that's the fun of sprinting, isn't it? While there isn't anybody else on track, that desire to beat the time set previously, to find more speed and brake that bit later, will not subside - despite those warnings about 'preserving the car for Snetterton', 'going easy on the clutch', 'not getting carried away' and such malarkey going into this weekend. It's an addictive challenge, one far more demanding than you'd expect from three quarters of a kilometre.
From the start, the Palace sprint track goes into the fiddly Pond Hairpin, a left-hander that caught more than a few out with its blind exit. A right-hand kink leads into Big Tree Bend, a 180-degree right with a bumpy braking zone and an ominous wall of tyres ahead for those who misjudge it. A triangle chicane breaks up the original Terrace straight, again one that outfoxed some competitors with quick changes of direction and a tricky approach. North Tower Bend is the final right, third gear for most cars as well as bumpy, narrow and fiendishly difficult, thanks to the overhanging trees and the sap they leave on the surface. A section where the most time over competitors could be made, but also one with the least room for error.
There was no danger of any error on the Ka's first practice runs, chiefly because it was too slow for any kind of incident. While it's a sweet-handling car, the measly 70hp and my unfamiliarity with the track meant slow and steady would suffice. By lunch on Sunday, however, we were at least under the 50-second mark.
I won't pretend that there was some sudden realisation with a cheese and tomato toastie of where another five seconds could come from, though with more runs came more confidence, and the best time for the EnduroKa on Sunday - a 47.81 - did just pip the 1.5-litre MX-5's fastest of 47.83. Second to last never felt so good!
Monday began well, the practice runs already taking half a second off Sunday's best and different approaches - using third in some places, braking a bit later into Big Tree Bend - were yielding results. What was intended as a reasonably sedate weekend given the competition was becoming more intense, or at least as intense as driving a Ka around Crystal Palace Park could be. The cars had changed from Sunday to Monday, but my eyes were firmly on the prize of second-to-last in class again. There were plenty of different MX-5s around, after all...
It wasn't to be, sadly. Despite times improving and a best of 46.85 - placing me 66th out of 84 runners in that run, and ahead of one of the MX-5s in Class 7 - the little Mazda improved while the little Ford and I did not. Shame. Still, power aside - which I recognise is pretty significant - the EnduroKa makes a great sprint car. It's light and nimble, ideal for hurling at tight bends, with strong brakes and an abundance of grip to ensure the least time possible spent away from the throttle. There was definitely more time in it, especially through that treacherous last bend, but the thought of a 12-hour slog around Snetterton in three weeks was playing pretty heavily on my mind. That's the best excuse I have, anyway, and the one that's being stuck with.
The figurative (if entirely expected) Class 7 wooden spoon couldn't take the sheen off a great Motorsport at the Palace weekend, though. The challenge of a sprint, the desire to keep on beating your own best effort, is always entertaining; to be able to do it in such a pretty location, on tarmac with such historic motorsport significance, was a real privilege. While this may have been PH's first attempt at Crystal Palace, it seems very unlikely to be our last - sitting bottom in the standings doesn't work all too well when 'Speed Matters', after all. Motorsport at the Palace should be back this time next May, and it comes highly recommended, whether you're watching or racing. There's a dearth of motorsport in the capital right now, for obvious reasons, so let's make the most of what we have. Maybe we can take along an MX-5 in 2020, to make it more interesting...
1 / 4