Motorsport at the Palace is held in Crystal Palace Park where there used to be a motor racing circuit. The circuit no longer exists but as you will see from the photos there remains wide pathways where parts of the circuit once was. In fact this place is steeped in motor racing history and is where the first closed circuit race was ever held, even before Brooklands. When I get the opportunity I will do a write up about it. It is also the graveyard of the Crystal Palace exhibition centre, the glass building hence the name “Crystal Palace” which famously burnt to the ground in 1936. The foundations and some of the external landscaping still exist. There is an area for classic cars but the main attraction is the sprinting where spectators can get close to the action. The Drivers Club had a stand with 10 cars which incorporated all three Mk’s of the MR2 which is pretty rare these days. We don’t see many Mk2’s around so was really pleased to see all Mk’s represented. We met at the Rose and Crown pub in Green St Green in the morning as getting to Crystal Palace is not very easy unless you know the area, fortunately I live locally and led a convoy of Mr2’s to the show. The event is held over 2 days but we went on the Sunday only. There wasn’t many car clubs attending that day as there were many requirements to be met and a lot of local clubs did not have the appropriate public liability insurances so were unable to attend. The sprinting was exciting, as well as being in close proximity to the cars you can wonder around the paddock and look up close to the cars. There was a Mk1 MR2 taking part in the sprint. Although he was a member of the SDMC and a regular racer he told us anyone and any car can take part in the sprint as long as you register beforehand so maybe next year we might have someone to cheer on.
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