Top Motors

Another show, another 5am start. However, this show got me more excited than any other so far this season. As a “non-static” show at the world famous Santa Pod Raceway, GTI Spring Fest promised to be a petrolhead’s dream, offering a combination of high octane racing and fine selection exquisite dubs on show.

The raceway was adorned with a very varied mix of cars, from poky Polos to twin turbo Audi monsters, and the strip was busy from the track opening right through to the end of the day after the trophies were awarded.

The show also included a show and shine section as well as a number of club stands, with hundreds of different VAG factions coming out to represent themselves.

The standard of metal in the show and shine was as high as ever, with a couple of familiar cars including Julian Loose’s beautiful blue RS4.

My favourite car in the Show and Shine was this Beetle RSI, something I’ve never seen in the flesh before, but with a combination of V6 power and a lairy factory bodykit, it definitely caught my eye!

One particularly unusual racer was the Darkside Development Caddy TDI, with over 230bhp and 350lbft.

A highlight of the day that only Santa Pod could offer was the Fire Force jet car, showing us all how it was done with a 6 second ¼ mile at 280mph.

Fortunately the rain held off all day, and the strip didn’t fall silent till long after all the stands had packed up and headed home. For £15, it was a smashing day out and the “run what you brung” racing was an absolute hoot (even in a standard diesel Golf!), and I would definitely recommend anyone to have go. All in, a great show accompanied by some fantastic racing action!